Manchester City v Brentford: Preview, predicted line-ups & Rodri injury update

Pep Guardiola accepts there is no room for error from Manchester City as they look to haul in Premier League leaders Arsenal.

City’s 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday night means they now require snookers to catch the Gunners, who appear to have the easier run-in.

Guardiola’s side are five points behind with a game in hand and the Catalan accepts all they can do now is win their remaining four games and hope Arsenal slip up.

He said: “I love to play at home, what can I say. So hopefully they can come and put pressure on Arsenal. Winning our games is all that we can do.”

Guardiola accepts it won’t be easy against a Brentford side still in with a chance of Champions League qualification. Brentford need to finish sixth and then hope Aston Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League final against Freiburg.

On Bees boss Keith Andrews, Guardiola said: ”Not easy to replace Thomas [Frank] so incredible season. Clear what they do and difficult to challenge them. But yeah, same time, three games left and Etihad and go for it.”

Guardiola said key midfielder Rodri was still a doubt for the game, adding: “We have survived without him for many, many months. He still doesn’t feel completely comfortable. He will be ready and fit and come back we will see this afternoon or tomorrow.”

The home side could have Josko Gvardiol back in the squad, though, after a lengthy lay-off.

“He’s good,” said Guardiola. “His training is still good. It’s been many months. Last season he was the important player for us, played all the games, at the end he said ‘enough is enough’. Happy he’s back.

“Hopefully he can help us in the last part of the season, have a good World Cup with Croatia, then next season we can have him again. He’s an important player. Central defender, full back. Can play different roles. So fast, so quick. Really good to have him back. Like Ruben [Dias] as well.”

Brentford boss Andrews was quick to play down talk of Europe and insists his focus has not extended beyond this weekend.

He told the club’s official website: ”We’ve got a lot of work to do over the next three games to do anything like [qualify for Europe]. The focus is on tomorrow, first and foremost, but we want to finish the season really well.

“The performance levels, the energy and the appetite from the players have been there in abundance.

“Tomorrow is obviously going to be very, very difficult, but we want to go there and show what a good team we are.”

Team news for Manchester City v Brentford

If Gvardiol and Dias are fit, they will be on the bench, with Guardiola likely to name a similar XI to that which started at Everton. Mateo Kovacic is pushing for inclusion in place of Nico Gonzalez.

England midfielder Jordan Henderson will return to the squad after recovering from injury while Vitaly Janelt will also be included. Rico Henry is not yet ready, however.

Predicted line-ups for Manchester City v Brentford

Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Kovacic, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Yarmolyuk, Jensen, Ouuttara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago

Where to watch Manchester City v Brentford: TV and online streams

Manchester City versus Brentford kicks-off at 5.30pm tomorrow afternoon. You can watch it on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event. It can be streamed on Sky Go.

If you’re watching from outside the UK, click HERE for details of the channels showing the game in your region.

Stats for Manchester City v Brentford

• Manchester City’s average of 1.4 goals per Premier League game against Brentford is their lowest against any opponent they’ve faced under Pep Guardiola
• Manchester City have dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League in 2026. No team has dropped more.
• Only Liverpool (19) have scored more goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League games this season than Brentford (18)

Prediction for Manchester City v Brentford